Mane Attraction: Introducing Grand Seiko’s Sport Collection Spring Drive Chronograph GMT

In the world of horology, Grand Seiko is one of the very few names from Japan that have been successfully competing with Swiss watchmakers in terms of precision timepieces. Since 1960, the brand has been creating some of the finest calibres that are feted around the world; Calibre 3180 was the first that had a 45-hour power reserve. For 2023, the Japanese watchmaker has released the Grand Seiko Sport Collection Spring Drive Chronograph GMT (Ref. SBGC253). This GMT chronograph is inspired by the lion, the brand’s enduring emblem.

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Ever since Grand Seiko parted ways with Seiko and came to be known as a separate entity in 2017, the Maison has nearly perfected its Spring Drive movement. In 2019, Grand Seiko introduced a new sports watch design inspired by the lion too. Sporting the same powerful design, the new Spring Drive Chronograph GMT watch has now joined the mainstream Grand Seiko sport collection.

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The newly released model is based on the existing ones as the 44.5 mm titanium watch gets a strong, angular case with claw-like, hairline-finished, curved lugs and a fixed 24-hour bezel, coated with blue LumiBrite, under a sapphire crystal glass. The dial gets a ‘lion’s mane’, an ivory-white textured pattern with a blue-tipped and blue LumiBrite-coloured GMT hand. There are oversized hour, minute hands and applied markers, coated with green LumiBrite for clear time-viewing experience.

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There are two pushers at 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock in titanium to start the chronograph function. And there is a screw-down crown at 3 o’clock to wind the watch. 

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The dial gets multiple indications — the power-reserve indicator is at 7 o’clock, the Grand Seiko logo almost halfway at 11:30, a date window at 3 o’clock, a spring-drive subdial at 9 o’clock, a 30-minute subdial at 1:30 and a 12-hour subdial at 4:30. 

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The timepiece is powered by the Spring Drive Chronograph GMT Calibre 9R86, which delivers an accuracy of ±15 seconds per month, measures elapsed time up to 12 hours and has a power reserve of 72 hours. The beauty of the movement’s finishing is visible on the see-through caseback with a titanium oscillating weight. The watch is finished on an H-shaped, titanium bracelet.

There can be limited water activities with this watch as the water resistance is up to 200 metres.

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